When asked to write a piece about the mosaic I have designed for the new hall, I must say, I felt slightly at a loss… (unlike me I know!)

The only brief I had from ‘the Vicar’ was that the design should contain a cross, which was a strong starting point, but to be honest, the rest of the design ‘evolved’ when I started to work with my carefully gathered materials. The general picture in my mind was one of texture in natural materials - stone, slate, marble and glass…but I knew when I saw each material, that it would become part of the end design. I just didn’t quite know how until I started putting them together!

It’s worth looking at the mosaic afresh in different light & weather conditions. In dry weather, two of the pebble colours look very similar, but in the wet, one develops into a soft pink shade. In the sun, the blue and copper-iridescent glass come to life, and reflect differently according to the angle you look at it!

I suppose I could make up some ‘theological’ meaning for the design, but to be honest, my own preference with art, is that each person reads their own meaning into a piece…in that way it can become personally significant.

The only specific inspiration I can really claim, is that the song ‘River of God, flood over me…’ was going through my mind as I conceived of the blue glass flash across the circle (the song Jay has sometimes played along with a video montage at the beginning of a baptism service)… the words go something like this:

River of God
Flood over me,
And lift my feet up off the ground.
Carry me off
Into your sea
And in your presence I’ll be found….
 

Interestingly, Don Bissett said, that as he looked at the mosaic, the phrase ‘River of God’ sprang to mind, and he subsequently forwarded the following verse to me:

Psalm 46 v 4   "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God..."
What a wonderful image: for God’s people to be carried gladly into His presence; immersed in his grace, with all our troubles washed away…I can’t wait - can you?

One last reflection… One of my ‘interpretations’ if you like: wouldn’t it be great if we could see each other as ‘God’s natural materials’... all part of the ‘big design’, even if we don’t quite know where or how we all fit together. Knowing that we are all ‘carefully selected’ by God and that we only have to be put in the right position, or seen in the right ‘conditions’ for our true beauty to be seen.

Some materials may look more ‘impressive’ at first sight, but each piece is needed to bring out the full beauty of the others…this, I believe, is how God wants us to view each ourselves and each other. (1 Corinthians 12 v 12-30)

Jo Colwill